Arlington’s fleet of street sweepers will be hitting the streets less often due to budget cuts.

Shani Kruljac, operations manager with the the Department of Environmental Services (DES) Solid Waste Bureau, told ARLnow yesterday (Monday) that cuts in the fiscal year 2020 budget brought the county’s sweep fleet from five to four trucks.

“These cuts resulted in a reduction of residential sweeping service from seven passes per year to four passes, as well as a reduction in protected bike lane sweeping from seven to four passes per year,” she said.

The reduction only applies to residential neighborhoods, however. The sweeping schedule for commercial areas remains the same — 26 passes a year.

The new schedule went into effect with the new budget on July 1.

The next residential sweep is scheduled for this Friday, October 25 in Waverly Hills, Woodmont, Maywood, and Cherrydale (as well as the Cherrydale Nature Center.) Kruljac told ARLnow that DES also revised the neighborhood groupings for sweeping (“zones”) in July for greater efficiency.

Debris left on the street can make its way into storm drains and either clog them or pollute the waterways it washes into.

“We anticipate collecting 1,000 tons of debris on the new sweeping schedule this fiscal year, as compared to 1,500 tons collected in Fiscal Year 2019,” said Kruljac, when asked whether fewer sweepings meant more debris in the storm sewer system. “Whether or not the uncollected debris finds its way into the storm sewer system is dependent on the weather and other variables.”

She added that DES does not currently have plans to ask for more money to boost the sweeping schedule during the county’s upcoming fiscal year 2021 budget deliberations.

It’s the season for spring cleaning, and Arlington’s street sweeping service is set to resume today (Monday).

The sweeping service runs from April through October in an effort to “reduce stormwater pollution in our local streams, the Potomac River, and the Chesapeake Bay,” according to an Arlington County Solid Waste Bureau press release.

The street sweeping schedule is zoned by neighborhood, and begins April 9. The sweeping will run each day in the designated civic associations from about 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

For “more effective sweeping” the County is asking residents to move their cars out of the road — “to a driveway, garage or non-sweeping street” — during cleaning, but parking fines will not be issued.

Here’s the schedule for April 9-23.

• Monday, April 9
  Zone 1 – Alcova Heights, Ashton Heights, Arlington Heights, Foxcroft Heights, Arlington View, Penrose
• Tuesday, April 10
  Zone 2 – Claremont, Douglas Park, Columbia Forest, Fairlington
• Wednesday, April 11
  Zone 3 – East Falls Church, Yorktown, Williamsburg
• Thursday, April 12
  Zone 4 – Arlingwood, Old Glebe, Chain Bridge, Rock Spring, Country Club Hills/Gulf Branch, Stafford-Albemarle-Glebe
• Friday, April 13
  Zone 5 – Bellevue Forest, North Highlands, Donaldson Run, Rivercrest, Dover Crystal, Riverwood, Maywood, Woodmont
• Monday, April 16
  Zone 6 – Arlington Ridge/Forest Hills, Aurora Highlands, Columbia Heights, Long Branch Creek, Nauck
• Tuesday, April 17
  Zone 7 – Clarendon, Courthouse, Colonial Village, Lyon Park, Lyon Village, North Rosslyn, Radnor/Fort Myer Heights
• Wednesday, April 18
  Zone 8 – Arlington Forest, Barcroft, Buckingham, Columbia Heights West/ Arlington Mill, Forest Glen, Glencarlyn
• Thursday, April 19
  Zone 9 – Ballston, Virginia Square, Cherrydale, Cherry Valley Nature Area, Glebewood, Old Dominion, Waycroft-Woodlawn, Waverly Hills
• Friday, April 20
  Zone 10 – Highland Park, Overlee Knolls, John M. Langston, Leeway Overlee, Madison Manor, Tara-Leeway Heights, Westover Village
• Monday, April 23
  Zone 11 – Bluemont, Boulevard Manor, Dominion Hills

Arlington County’s roads will be undergoing their own spring cleaning next week when the county conducts street sweeping.

Starting Monday, April 7, the county will move from neighborhood to neighborhood cleaning the streets in an effort that will continue until June. All cars parked on roads marked for street sweeping should be moved to a driveway, garage or street that won’t be swept on the days the neighborhood’s sweeping is scheduled to take place.

Here’s the schedule for the next two weeks. Sweeping will start again with the same rotation on May 5 and June 9:

• April 7 — Arlington Forest, Barcroft, Buckingham Columbia Heights West, Forest Glen, Glencarlyn
• April 8 — Claremont, Columbia Forest, Douglas Park, Fairlington
• April 9 — Arlington East Falls Church, Williamsburg, Yorktown
• April 10 — Arlingwood, Chain Bridge, Country Club Hills/Gulf Branch, Old Glebe, Rock Spring, Stafford Albemarle Glebe
• April 11 — Bellevue Forest, Donaldson Run, Dover-Crystal, Maywood, North Highlands, Rivercrest, Riverwood, Woodmont
• April 14 — Ballston-Virginia Square, Cherrydale, Cherry Valley Nature Area, Glebewood, Old Dominion, Waycroft-Woodlawn, Waverly Hills
• April 15 — Clarendon-Courthouse, Colonial Village, Lyon Park, Lyon Village, North Rosslyn, Radnor/Ft. Myer Heights
• April 16 — Alcova Heights, Arlington Heights, Arlington View, Ashton Heights, Foxcroft Heights, Penrose
• April 17 — Aurora Highlands, Columbia Heights, Long Branch Creek, Nauck, Arlington Ridge/Forest Hills
• April 18 — Highland Park/Overlee Knolls, John M. Langston, Leeway Overlee, Madison Manor, Tara-Leeway Heights, Westover Village
• April 21 — Bluemont, Dominion Hills, Boulevard Manor

In the days between residential street sweeping, Arlington will perform street sweeping in commercial areas.

Author Event to Discuss Soldiers –Arlington Public Library is holding an author event next week with George Mason University Professor Christopher Hamner. Hamner, author of “Enduring Battle,” will discuss the evolution of the American soldier from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War to World War II. The talk is scheduled on Aug. 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Arlington Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street). [Arlington Public Library]

Street Sweeping Underway — Arlington County has begun its annual street sweeping program. The sweeping is being grouped into 11 different “street sweeping zones.” Parked cars must be moved from the streets in each zone on the days designated for street sweeping. About 814 “lane miles” will be swept by the time the program ends on Oct. 29. [Arlington County]

O’Connell to Open New Field — Work on Bishop O’Connell High School’s new stadium and synthetic athletic field is complete. The first major event at the stadium will be a varsity football game at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31. [Sun Gazette]

Resident’s Fact-Checking Org Profiled — PolitiFact, a journalistic organization dedicated to fact checking politicians and political ads, is turning five years old. The organization, which is currently busy assigning “Truth-O-Meter” rankings to statements from the U.S. presidential race, is headed by Bill Adair, an Arlington resident. [Nieman Journalism Lab]

Photo courtesy Captain Pup McPuppo